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Hood was a decorated UNSCDF combat veteran and a British noble[1] as the Human-Covenant war neared its end. Prior to December 2530, Hood served as CaptainJames Cutter's XO aboard UNSC Spirit of Fire when he was given command of a Halcyon-class light cruiser, UNSC Roman Blue. As commanding officer of Roman Blue, Hood was tasked with retrieving a log buoy dropped by Spirit of Fire while avoiding combat as Arcadia was deemed lost. Enraged by the loss of Arcadia he ordered the crew to attack a CPV-class destroyer. The destroyer being too much of a match for the lone Halcyon cruiser, Hood retreated from battle, leaving behind the log and any chance of rescue for Spirit of Fire. Feeling guilty for abandoning the Spirit, he provided financial support for Cutters wife, daughter and illegitimate son Daniel Clayton, as well as helping him advance through the ranks.

He had been promoted to Fleet Admiral and taken a prominent seat on the UNSC Security Committee by September 4, 2552. In the aftermath of the Fall of Reach, Hood received LieutenantWagner's report on the Fall of Reach in front of the Committee. The admiral was interested in the fate of UNSC Pillar of Autumn and its SPARTAN-IIs, and was dismayed to find most of the supersoldiers had been expended during the battle. Hood also considered Wagner's petition to authorize a mission to search for survivors on Reach.[2]

The ceremony was interrupted by the attack on Earth by the Prophet of Regret's Covenant fleet. The Admiral ordered John-117 to defend Cairo from enemy boarders and assumed command of the defense from the station.[3]

The battle left the Admiral with few ships. By now it was obvious the Covenant were excavating something near New Mombasa. Commander Keyes proposed a daring offensive to destroy the grounded Forerunner ship; Hood gave his approval only after John-117 was recovered. Once the Spartan and Thel 'Vadam disabled local enemy air defenses, Hood led a squadron of frigates from UNSC Forward Unto Dawn[6] and Longsword fighters in a low altitude strike on the dreadnought. The attack failed and the Covenant left through a Slipspace portal to Installation 00.[7][8]

Lord Hood and Thel 'Vadam shaking hands at Hillside Memorial. A sign of peace between the Humans and the Sangheili.

The departure of the Covenant was followed by a Flood attack. It was repelled with the aid of Swords of Sanghelios, and a message from Cortana was retrieved. The AI claimed a solution to the Flood could be found on Installation 00. Hood met with ShipmasterRtas 'Vadum aboard the Separatist Assault CarrierShadow of Intent. The two disagreed on strategy. The Admiral was not confident of the AI's advice given its damaged state and was prepared to fight a conventional battle against the Flood. The Ship Master saw this guaranteed suicide as foolish and opted to lead an expedition through the portal to find Cortana's solution. John-117 and Commander Keyes agreed with the Ship Master, and convinced a weary Hood to spare ships and troops to accompany the Separatists. Hood remained on Earth as the combined task force departed.[8]

At the end of the war, he conducted the memorial service near the city of Voi, Kenya and the Portal. While he could not forgive the Sangheili for their part in the war, he thanked Thel 'Vadam for helping John-117 and the UNSC and expressed his sorrow at John-117's apparent "death", saying "it's hard to believe he's dead," to which Thel replied, "Were it so easy." Implying John's survival.[9]

Lord Hood facilitated an official peace treaty with the Sangheili through Thel 'Vadam. Thel 'Vadam was invited to the Hillside Memorial. Later during the Sangheili Civil War he offered Thel 'Vadam assistance from Infinity on a "Thursday War" after being convinced by Admiral Margaret Parangosky.

On March 3, 2558, Hood was part of a board of high-ranking UNSC officers conducting an informal inquiry to Infinity's CO, Captain Thomas Lasky, and Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer as to the events on Requiem before boarding Infinity to tell Lasky that the search for Jul 'Mdama and Catherine Halsey had been given to the UNSC Vociferous. He explained to Lasky that since the Covenant dissolved, the Jiralhanae settled on resource-rich worlds. Since the Brutes are technologically behind the other races, they raid what they can't mine. The UNSC's interest was initiating peace talks with Thel 'Vadam and Chieftain Lydus on Ealen IV to get access to their resources. But just as the peace talks go underway however it was interrupted by the Guardians of the Righteous. With their transports destroyed in the ambush, the dignitaries and their escorts would forced to flee to a redoubt to hold up up until reinforcements arrived. But as the party were making their way across the catwalk to the other side, they were ambushed. After fending off the attack, Hood became suspicious as to how the Covenant Remnant knew where to hit them, to which Palmer assumed they were just lucky. Hood then found a UNSC datapad on a Sangheili attacker, with profiles on himself and all assembled Spartans, and guesses that these Covenant are merely mercenaries.

But just as the party entered the redoubt, they are betrayed by Spartan Vladimir Scruggs, who holds Hood hostage to buy time for the Guardians of the Righteous to reach them. Palmer apologizes to Hood before shooting him in the leg, giving her an opening to tackle Scruggs and subsequently kill them. Hood got on the transport with everyone excluding Fireteam Bailey, who stayed behind to cover their escape.

A week later, Hood discusses with Lasky that someone high up in the UNSC had leaked the meeting location, someone with much higher clearance than a Spartan. Thus, Lasky volunteered to take a clandestine investigation with Spartan Naiya Ray, reasoning that they would have to go outside the UNSC to find the mole, and planned on meeting with journalist Petra Janecek. Officially on personal leave, Lasky relinquished command of Infinity to Hood. He then promptly demanded a test of Infinity's Forerunner-enhanced slipspace capabilities before receiving a distress call on an old frequency. Hood dispatches FireteamsMajestic, Colossus, and Fenrir to investigate the derelict ship, Pilgrims Pride, which suddenly launched attack fighters and was set to self-destruct. After the crisis was averted, salvage teams determined that the attackers were not Insurrectionist, as they were using archaic craft such as Vultures and Sparrowhawks and determined that they belonged to UNSC Spirit of Fire. Hood admitted to his subordinates that he knows everything about the Spirit, as he was the reason they went missing.

Lord Hood's military decorations are (from top left) the Combat Action Ribbon, the Joint Service Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Navy "E" Ribbon, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Navy Rifle Marksman Ribbon, the Medal of Honor, the Purple Heart, and the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. It is odd that he wears his high-ranking medals below the lesser non-medal ribbons, although UNSC uniform regulations in 2552 are probably different from those in the present-day military.

In Halo: First Strike and the Halo Legends episode Origins, Hood has grey hair. Yet in Halo 3, he is clearly shown to be bald. Though it is possible he shaved his head between events or he was wearing a wig.

Strangely, though Lord Hood is a Fleet Admiral, which would be shown by five stars, his shoulderboards only show four stars, which suggests the rank of Admiral. It is unknown if this is a personal preference or if the ranking insignias have been significantly changed by 2552.